No Fridge = Saving Money?

So – we went the whole month of May without a fridge. Was it hard? No. In fact, it was surprisingly easy. Kind of undramatic actually. In my last update, I mentioned that we’d continue the experiment for at least a full billing cycle from our electric company to see how our energy saving (if any) was adding up. This month’s bill showed up, and although it wasn’t a full cycle, we’re seeing some savings at least. From 4/18/11 to 5/18/11, this is what our bill looked like:

This Year

Last Year

Average Daily Temperature

49°

49°

Gas/Therms per Day

1.03

0.90

Gas/Cost per Day

$0.98

$0.84

Electric/kWh per Day

14.27

15.76

Electric/Cost per Day

$1.69

$2.00

Note: if you’re curious, Nick over at Northwest Edible gave a great explanation of watts vs. kilowatts vs. watt hours, last week. It was a bit over my head, but good info.

Obviously we’re using less electricity than we did last year (wonder why we’re using more gas though?). But it’s not a full billing cycle yet, since we started this project on May 1st. We’re going to keep it up at least one more month to see what we get. But so far, I’m happy that there has been some impact already… if I’m doing my math right, that 31 cents works out to an average savings of 15.5% per day. (!!)

Is your hot water heater gas powered? That could be the difference. I lived without a range for three months after I had a kitchen fire. I didn’t want to, but the mortgage company had to sign the check, and they gave me a fit! I swear, I’m so glad I don’t have that house anymore. I thought I’d be fine with the microwave and the toaster oven, but it was very hard. I finally broke down and bought a hot plate, just because I missed hard boiled eggs. I don’t think I could live without a fridge, not in FL. I have to have my iced tea and yogurt. I could probably do with a smaller one, though. I had a huge fridge at my old house, and now I have a small apartment size one, and I’m doing o.k.

We considered giving up a frig totally, but it was just a little too hard for us. We like our cereal with cold milk and we have eggs and all that. However, we did give up out HUGE frig and got a little cube frig. Like the ones you see in dorms or a hotel. And it’s just enough to keep a little bit of this and that in there for the three of us. And I have noticed a difference in our electric bill. They say a big frig is a HUGE drain on the household electric.

Now we did go and get another little used frig, a little cube like the first and we have it in our mud room for pops and eggs from our hens. We plan on only using it in the hot months, and then when it cools down enough, and through winter we will unplug it as the mudroom really stays chilly enough for pop and eggs!

We too like our milk cold – it stays cold in the icebox. ;) And the eggs are fine on the counter, but there’s room in there if we wanted a cold egg. We looked at the smaller dorm sized fridges, but they actually use almost as much energy as a full size one – we were surprised!

Howdy!

From gardens, bees and backyard chickens in the heart of Denver to starting from scratch in San Antonio. Our family of five is striving to find the simple life - the easy way. I spend my free time blogging and getting dirt under my nails along side my hard-working husband. Yay for modern housewifery, urban livestock and front yard gardens!